<p>I have been selected for verifying docuemts by the school. The schools required me to submit my mother's tax return transcript. I submitted, but they says that there's a conflict that my parents completed the FAFSA as married, but my mother filed a 2012 federal income tax return as head of household.</p>
<p>My mother has been filing herself as the head of household for many years. She is NOT lying because she is actually supporting me for many years by herself. My father do not make any income in the US (he makes money outside the US, but the law doesn't require to report any income more than $85000 or something) and does not support us. He is not in the United States; however, he comes to the US twice per year so his green card would not expire. The tax prepares says that my dad's information is not required in my mother's tax return, so she didn't put in any of his information and says that she is the head of household. (My mother and I are American citizen)</p>
<p>The school tell my mother to make an amendment (1040x form), but would that make IRS thinks that my mother has been lying for ages and makes her to return all money she've received throughout the years? </p>
<p>I can lose $5000 if I failed to verify!!! Please help me! Please!</p>
<p>Contact the financial aid office of your school directly to ask them specifically what they need. They may simply need a letter detailing your situation. Or yes, your mother can file an amendment. </p>
<p>Also check out the IRS website to determine if your mother can indeed file HoH. </p>
<p>Others will be able to respond as well, but it would be best to contact the school and explain your situation and ask specifically what they require.</p>
<p>The FAFSA and tax return have to jive. The only way that I know that your mother can file HOH on the tax return legally, and still be married to your father is if they are separated. I would call the school financial aid office and tell them your parents are separated and file their taxes as such, and have for a while, and that a professional tax preparer has looked at the situation and have deemed the relationship as separated, allowing the HOH designation.</p>
<p>I called the school. They want me to make an amendment. But my concern is if IRS would think my mother mas been lying and make an investigation or even make her pay all return bsck because she has been filing the same way for years?</p>
<p>They may be separated. Depending on your state, they can file on the IRS forms as separated, if they are separate as of 12/31 of that year. Otherwise, your family owes a ton of money for tax purposes. You cannot be HOH and get those tax breaks unless you qualify for “separated”, you understand? THat is tax fraud, and means a lot of penalties. Look at your mother’s tax forms. Look up the HOH definition. The reason you are having problems is that your parents are filing as separated (taken for granted in the HOH category) and yet you put down “married” on FAFSA. There is no HOH category for FAFSA since there is no tax break of such. HOH is just a category for SINGLE parents, and in some cases, other SINGLE low income folks. Not married. Look it up. Talk to your mother’s tax preparer. Your parents are separated, or they have a much bigger problem than your financial aid when the government audits their tax forms.</p>
<p>Basically, if your parents have separate residences, and file their taxes separately, a legal,documented separation is not needed for your mother to be considered separated. If you want to insist that they are not separated, then you need to include your father’s income and proof of it from the other country where he lives and works, and all of his financials will be included in determination for financial aid. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have to report income or file here in the US, something I question anyways with green card status—his income and assets need to be reported and verified from where ever he lives.</p>
<p>I think you qualify very nicely as your parents being separated,</p>
<p>If your father is a legal permanent resident, he is obligated to file the income tax paperwork every year. Period. Even if he doesn’t owe taxes because all of his income is foreign, and it is less than the current foreign income exclusion amount, he still needs to be filing the paperwork.</p>
<p>He and your mom may prefer to file their taxes separately because of the headache caused by the foreign income exclusion, etc. However, as cptofthehouse has pointed out, if your parents consider themselves married, rather than separated, you father’s worldwide income is necessary for the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Your father seems to want to eat his cake and have it too. Comes to the US just enough to keep his green card. Well, that means he has to file US taxes too. </p>
<p>As far as your mother HTH category goes, it is also likely that technically, she does not qualify for that since your parents regard themselves married, but the tax preparer probably told her that given her situation and your fathers. that a case could be made that she is HOH. </p>
<p>But this is not a tax forum here, so I’m not even going to get into all of that. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that if your mother’s tax form says HOH and FAFSA says married, one has to be corrected. I think you can make the case that your parents are separated and correct the FAFSA accordingly. That still leaves a lot of issues regarding your father’s non reporting of his income on the table. Whether he owes taxes or not, is not the issue; he should still have been filing the forms even with all foreign income, according to the rules that dictate this as a permanent resident status that he is anxious to preserve. But FAFSA and the college are not going to get into that, as your mother is your custodial parent and your father would not be in the picture if they are separated. And it does not have to be a legal separation. The way your mother has been filing her taxes supports a separated status.</p>
That’s no conflict as US tax law allows one of married couple who lived apart to file as Head of Household. However, since you reported your parents are married, you should provide the tax returns of both parents to the school, regardless your
</p>
<p>Finally, do you want to consider your parent as informally separated?
<p>I make changes in my FAFSA. I called the school and told them that I made a change in FAFSA. They told me to wait for a few weeks. I would open a new thread if there’s any problem.</p>
<p>I resubmit a revised FAFSA (I changed my mother’s martial status to separated) to the school, but since the school had chosen me to verify documents, they are going to need a partition of divorce from my mother. What should I do?</p>
<p>You need to go sit down with the financial aid office, and ask the director (not a lower-level person) which documents they need. Make very careful notes, and double-check the information. It probably would be a good idea to take your mom with you to that meeting as well.</p>
<p>I think the school wants copy of a legal doc such as a Petition for Divorce filed with the court, or a Legal Separation doc filed with the court – ways to verify a “legal separation.”</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse: “Your father seems to want to eat his cake and have it too.”</p>
<p>Exactly. He makes $85,000/yr without declaring it, and she claims HOH and gets that tax advantage. I find it hard to believe that he contributes nothing to her education. The land of opportunity (and taking advantage of those less fortunate who will be footing the bill for this scam).</p>